Scottish Parliament

Written Answers

Friday 5 November 1999

Scottish Executive

Business Support

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to improve business support services and to provide a one stop shop for business advice.

Henry McLeish: The Scottish Executive is determined to improve the quality and consistency of business information and advice provided by the Enterprise Network throughout Scotland. For example we are currently working with Scottish Enterprise to implement a number of improvements in this area recommended by a joint Scottish Office/Scottish Enterprise review report completed earlier this year. This will include steps to improve the first stop shop approach adopted by the existing structure of Business Shops as the main gateway to support service provision in the Scottish Enterprise area.

Community Care

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive to specify the amount of public funding for learning disability services in Scotland in each of the past five years divided between the health service, local authorities and the voluntary sector.

Iain Gray: The following table shows the amount of public funding for learning disability services in Scotland in each of the past five years, where data are available, for health service and local authorities. Figures for the voluntary sector are not collected by the Scottish Executive. The figures show the increasing emphasis on caring for people in the community rather than in hospital.

   Health Service £ millionLocal Authorities £ millionTotal £ million  1998-99   111.11   n/a3   n/a 1997-98   117.0   141.54   258.5 1996-97   116.3   129.1   245.3 1995-96   119.4   116.2   235.7 1994-95   n/a2   93.2   n/a 1993-94   n/a2   57.8   n/a   

  Sources: Health Service: Performance Monitoring Returns (SOHD EID)

  Local Authorities: Local Government Finance Returns (LFR 3 Social Work)

  Notes:

  The Health Service figure for 1998-99 is provisional and may be subject to revision.

  Health Service Community figures were not broken down for learning disabilities prior to 1995-96.

  LFR data for 1998-99 are not yet available.

  LFR data for 1997-98 are provisional and may be subject to revisions.

Education

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate is of the increase in money for education that will be available in 2000-01 to Glasgow City and South Lanarkshire councils as a consequence of the £80 million extra spending for education announced by the Minister for Finance on 6 October.

Peter Peacock: The additional money for education announced by Jack McConnell on 6 October has been widely welcomed. Detailed allocations of education resources for Councils will be made as part of the local government finance settlement towards the end of the year.

Employment

Ms Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures have been taken since January 1997 to pre-empt and alleviate the "difficulties" at Babcock’s yard, Rosyth referred to by its spokesperson as quoted in The Herald on 3 September.

Ms Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive to specify, in terms of the expected job losses, the "difficulties" at Babcock’s yard, Rosyth referred to by its spokesperson as quoted in The Herald on 3 September.

Henry McLeish: I have written to Ms MacDonald and a copy of the letter has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).

Genetically Modified Organisms

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will obtain and publish details of all the infringements of the 1992 Genetically Modified Organisms Regulations which have taken place in Scottish universities and higher education and research institutes since these regulations came into force.

Susan Deacon: Details of Scottish research activities into genetically modified organisms (GMOs) whether carried out under Contained Use or Deliberate Release Regulations are listed in a Public Register which is held by the Health & Safety Executive, Office for Scotland, 59 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3UE. The information held on individual notifications and consents includes details of any infringements that have resulted in the issuing of a formal prohibition or improvement notice, or in a prosecution.

  The only formal enforcement action required under the Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) Regulations 1992 in relation to premises in Scotland was against Edinburgh University in 1999. This resulted in a successful prosecution.

  In relation to the Genetically Modified Organisms (Deliberate Release) Regulations 1992, two sites in Scotland had improvement notices imposed on them during the period April 97-March 98. In the same year there were three other deviations from the terms of the consent, which were rectified without formal action. All the active release sites in Scotland have been inspected this year and all complied with the terms of their Consent at the time of inspection. While information on formal action in the period 1992 and March 1997 is publicly available from the Health & Safety Executive under Open Government provisions, it has not been collated and is held by reference to individual consents and is not readily available.

  Arrangements are now being developed to hold enforcement information in a more readily accessible format.

Genetically Modified Organisms

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring will be undertaken into the possible ecological effects from genetically modified organism cross-pollination outwith the trial sites during the programme of managed development of herbicide tolerant genetically modified crop trials in Scotland.

Ross Finnie: No Scottish sites have yet been identified for the programme of managed development of herbicide tolerant genetically modified crop trials.

  All crops in the farm-scale evaluations are being grown in accordance with the SCIMAC (Supply Chain Initiative on Modified Agricultural Crops) Code of Practice and Guidelines. The guidelines set out proposed separation distances between GM and non-GM crops and are based on internationally recognised criteria for ensuring high purity in seed production. The recommended separation distances in respect of oilseed rape and forage maize are as follows:

  


Crop 


Certified seed 
  crop
  (Same species) 


Registered organic 
  crops
  (Same species) 


Non-GM crops
  (Same species) 




Oilseed Rape 
  

200m 
  

200m 
  

50m 
  



Forage Maize 
  

200m 
  

200m 
  

200m Sweetcorn
50m forage maize

Local Government

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it would be prepared to use the mechanism of either its Education Bill or its Local Government Bill to repeal Section 2A of the Local Government Act (1986).

Mr Frank McAveety: Wendy Alexander announced on Friday 29 October that the Scottish Executive will repeal Section 2A of the Local Government Act 1986. The repeal will be made within the Ethical Standards in Public Life Bill and we expect this legislation to come before Parliament early next year.

Student Finance

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-608 by Henry McLeish on 3 August, whether the Quigley Committee will report to the Scottish Parliament, the Westminster Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales and whether the Scottish Executive’s response will be subject to the consultation with Her Majesty’s Government and the Cabinet of the National Assembly for Wales.

Henry McLeish: The Quigley Committee will report to the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, the First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales, Scottish Ministers and the Department of Education for Northern Ireland. The Committee's report will be placed in the National Assembly for Wales and the Scottish Parliament at the same time as it is laid before the Westminster Parliament. The Scottish Executive will determine its response and any appropriate consultation when it has considered the findings of the Committee.

Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has to allow local authorities to designate streets as "Home Zones" and to reduce the speed limit in such zones to 10mph.

Sarah Boyack: Local authorities in Scotland already have powers which can be used to deliver the main features of "Home Zones". They can introduce:

  traffic calming measures, under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984, designed to reduce the speed of vehicles; and

  10mph speed limits, after receiving consent from the Scottish Ministers, under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

  A feature of many continental "Home Zones" is a provision that drivers are held responsible for injuries to pedestrians and cyclists. Any proposal for the introduction of a similar provision in Scotland would have to be considered in light of the existing law on civil liability, and criminal responsibility, for road accidents.

  When assessing the case for wider powers, the Scottish Executive will take note of all relevant information, including the conclusions of research now taking place, in England, into both the extent to which the aims of "Home Zones" can be achieved by traffic management measures introduced under existing legislation and the need for additional legislation.

  On 16 June, the United Kingdom Government removed the statutory requirement for local authorities to obtain the Secretary of State’s consent before making 20 mph speed limit orders. As a result, local authorities in Scotland now have freedom to set 20 mph speed limits in locations where they feel this would be appropriate.

Transport

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will introduce static permanent speed cameras on the A77 to improve road safety for users.

Sarah Boyack: There are no plans to install static permanent speed cameras on the A77. The provision of such equipment is on a priority basis for locations where there are speed related safety problems. In other locations, including on the A77, the police monitor the situation and enforce the speed limit using mobile VASCAR equipment.